Sexting during the coronavirus pandemic: analysis of the connection of sexting with the need for sexual intercourse and the number of sexual partners among young people

Abstract

Due to the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as due to limited opportunities for intimate and sexual contact, primarily among singles and couples who live separately, there arises an increased interest in various forms of sexual interaction mediated by technology, including sexting. Previous research on this topic were mostly conducted on convenient samples and focused on the first phases of the isolation measures. This research relies on the assumption that consensual sexting can serve young people as a kind of substitute for real intimate contact during a period marked by restrictions due to the pandemic, given that young people less often live with intimate partners, have a more pronounced desire for sexual exploration, and more often have short-term relationships. Th e fi rst goal of this research is to understand whether the partner relationship plays a role in the connection between the self-assessed change in the need for sexual relations and the frequency of sexting during the pandemic. Th e second goal is to analyze the role of the change in the need for sexual relations in the connection between the frequency of sexting and the number of sexual partners since the beginning of the pandemic. The data was collected at the beginning of February 2021 on a random sample of young people aged 18 to 25 (N=607), selected from a national Internet panel. The analysis was conducted on a sub-sample of singles and couples living separately (N=500).